WARSAW, Poland - Polish intellectuals have appealed to Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko to release a jailed opposition presidential candidate and his wife.

The letter signed by some 60 artists and journalists was presented Monday during a video conference with a family member of Andrei Sannikov and Irina Khalip, who have been imprisoned since Belarus' Dec. 19 presidential election.

Yulia Khalip, the grandmother of the couple's three-year-old son, said by videolink from Minsk, Belarus, that their boy Daniil misses his mom and dad.

The Polish intellectuals in their letter also demand the release of three other opposition candidates arrested Dec. 19.

Lukashenko was credited with winning 80 per cent support in the vote, which was widely regarded as fraudulent by international observers.